Compound rail.



'F. M. CLARK.

' COMPOUND RAIL.

FRANK M. CLARK, OF ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD TOEDWARD M. LENGLE, 0F JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA.

GOIVII POUND BAIL.

Application filed July 14, 1915.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, FRANK M. CLARK, a citizen of the United States,residing at St. tugustine, in the county of St. John and State ofFlorida, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in CompoundRails; and I do hereby declare the following to be a. full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in compound rails, and it consistsin providing an all-metal compound rail, the parts of which may bereadily assembled and disassembled, as will be hereinafter described;and in which simplicity of construction is combined with great strengthand rugged efficiency to withstand the usage to which such rails areordinarily subjected.

My invention is especially intended to provide a rail adapted to supportheavy weights, and not so liable to fracture as are the rails made of asingle piece which are now generally in use.

Reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in' which similarreference symbols indicate similar parts throughout the several views.

Figure l is a perspective view showing one of the pair of rails mountedon a roadbed; Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the mode ofassembling the parts of the rail; and'Fig. 3 is a perspective viewshowing how the rail is jointed.

'A represents a bed-plate or stringer having laterally-extending flangesa and over hanging ribs 60, forming with the flat inner bottom a of thestringer a groove adapted to receive the feet of the rail segments B.These rail segments B are made symmetrical. each corresponding to onehalf of the main body of the rail, and when mounted in place form theusual head Z; of the rail, and the usual shaped web; while the toe ofthe foot 7) of the rail segments engages beneath the correspondingoverhanging rib a, and the heel of said foot is rounded, as at 79 thesole of the foot being flat, as at 6 In assembling the parts, thestringer A is first secured on the cross ties C in the usualSpecification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 25, 1916.

Serial No. 39,901.

way, and spiked in place by the spikes D, then one side of the rail isput in place and afterward the adjoining rail segment is put in placefrom the opposite side, as shown in Fig. 2; the toe I) being caused toengage beneath the rib a, and the rounded heel b of the segment willpermit the second segment to be swung t0 the position shown in Figs. 1and 3, when the parts are secured together in the usual way, as by thebolts E. The bolts E pass. through the bolt holes Z)", which arepreferably elliptical in shape so as to allow of the expansion andcontraction of the rail segments.

When the parts are secured together we have a compound rail formed of abase plate and two abutting members rigidly secured together. By thisconstruction the built-up rail may be made of the three members referred to, and can be constructed very much more cheaply than anintegral rail of the same strength and similar dimensions. In additionto the bolts E, suitable fish-plates may be supplied to reinforce thejoints if desired, but in practice such fish-plates would ordinarily beunnecessary.

It will be obvious that the shape of the head of the rail may be variedto suit varying traffic conditions, and that various other changes mightbe made in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts whichcould be used without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent of the United States is 1. A compound rail comprising achanneled bed-plate or stringer having overhanging ribs, and a pair ofrail segments each having a web and a head, and having flat inner sidesadapted to abut against each other, and each provided with a. foothaving a toe adapted to engage beneath one of said over-hanging ribs,and with a rounded heel, substantially as and for the purposesdescribed.

2. A compound rail comprising a bed plate or stringer having a groovetherein, the said groove having a flat bottom and undercut sides, andtwo symmetrically disposed rail segments each having a web and a head,

tom adapted to rest on the bottom of said groove, a toe adapted toengage in the undercut portion of said groove at one side thereof, andeach also provided with a rounded heel whereby the rail segments may beassembled from the side of the bed-plate,

substantially as and for the purposes 10 described.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature.

v FRANK M. CLARK.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of latents. Washington, D. C.

